Pop Goes My Heart
by John Bigboote
Summary: I said I wasn't gonna lose my head, but then


"_Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost."_

\- Full Metal Alchemist

"_How is he these days?"_

"_Peter? Oh, he was borderline for a while. Then he crossed the border."_

\- Ghostbusters II

"_C'mon. All women think about is changing a man's personality, and you've got a whole new model to customize here."_

\- Joe Astor, Viper

"_I told you I'd get him on the first shot."_

\- Pallas, The Hylas Effect

* * *

"_I'm fine. It doesn't hurt at all. It even feels good. I'm fading in and out… almost like I'm dreaming."_

"_Eh?! That means you're __**dying**__, stupid!"_

Tiana shrieked with hysterical disbelief behind Seiya. He treated the wound the griffin had inflicted on him like it was just a little scrape, but she could see from the gaping hole in his back that at least a third of his heart was missing. She frantically rushed and whipped up a quick healing spell to patch him up long enough so he could survive the fight. She hoped it would be enough to heal him completely.

After the party had slain the griffin, they took a long trip back to the nearby village so they could spend the night at the inn. Everyone was in high spirits talking about their victory over the griffin and their next fight with a golem as they traveled under the clear starry sky. The goddess Aria couldn't stop expressing her gratitude on how they all did such a great job. Everything seemed safe and peaceful as they walked through the forest accompanied by nothing but the songs of chirping crickets and ribbitting frogs.

"Hey! Tiana! Thanks again for the new leg!" Colt cheerfully said to the group's healer as he hopped on one foot to show off the strength of the regrown limb. Tiana simply waved her fingers at him and shot him a fake smile to hide her annoyance. That was probably the hundredth time he'd brought up the leg thing in the past hour, and it's not she had even needed to use any of her bigger spells.

Seiya was celebrating along with his three friends when they first started the trip home, but he gradually became quieter the longer they walked. The rest of the party just figured he was mellowing out after winning the hardest battle he'd ever fought since the beginning of his adventure. He _looked _perfectly fine, with a hole puncturing his solid steel cuirass that showed the pectoral skin underneath had healed without leaving a scar.

The party of four finally arrived at the inn and entered the bustling noise of the first floor tavern. Soon after he was indoors, Seiya's strange quietness took a turn for the worst.

He suddenly collapsed forward and gripped the edge of a table to keep himself standing. He went into a coughing fit as he gasped to catch his breath. One round of the coughing ended with him hacking up a handful of blood.

The party panicked and crowded around him to see what was wrong. He could barely stand on his own two feet because he was so weak. Inspecting his condition, they realized he was still suffering from a lingering internal injury and it was getting worse the longer it went untreated. His health was dropping faster than if he had been poisoned with pure acid!

Colt suggested they rush to get him an elixir. Aria and Tiana insisted it wouldn't be enough for his serious ailments. Aria scrambled to see if she could save him with a divine intervention, but Colt and Tiana doubted they'd get help in time.

"There's one other spell I could try," Tiana spoke up with a slightly nervous voice. "I've… never done it before."

She glanced toward Aria like she was hoping the goddess would give her permission for something. Aria glanced back at her with a look of worry for Seiya's wellbeing, never officially rejecting or condoning what she knew Tiana was thinking. There were certain things understood between goddesses and royal clerics that were better left unspoken for the sake of modesty.

Tiana had looked at Aria with puppy eyes that silently asked the question "_Am I allowed to?_" Well, Aria never said "_No._"

Tiana had to act quickly if Seiya had any hope. She slung Seiya's arm across the back of her shoulders to support him.

"Tii… ana…" he painfully gasped, barely able to walk beside her.

"It's okay," she whispered to guide him and comfort him. "We'll get you fixed up."

She led him away from the ruckus of the inn's bar and toward one of the quiet private bedrooms.

* * *

Tiana was kneeling on top of a bed with only the silver moonlight in the window and the dim crackling gold aura of a candle on the nightstand to help guide her as she applied her craft. She had taken off her shawl and the first layer of her skirt and neatly folded them over a nearby chair so she wouldn't get too hot while she casted the enchantment. The rest of her long gown was spread over Seiya's completely bared form, rippling over his muscles like lavish sheets. She was the only thing keeping him warm and secure.

Her palms were resting delicately on his chest as she used her hips and waist to gently pray. Her skill at performing this most sacred incantation was careful, focused, and devoted, if not a little inexperienced. Aria was standing outside the closed door looking the other way, silently keeping guard so no one would happen to walk in on Tiana and Seiya.

The frail resting swordsman was too weak to even open his eyes, lingering somewhere between a dream and a coma with his head propped on a pillow against the bed's headboard. His breathing was dangerously shallow and labored, so much so that Tiana may not have even detected it if her palms weren't pressing straight on his chest. Her own breathing was louder and more humid than his, but also more regular and controlled. She slowly inhaled and exhaled through gently parted lips, closing her eyes as she softly winced.

She moved her body in the direction she naturally sensed it needed to go, slowly oscillating herself back and forth so she could control Seiya's heartbeat with her hips. She moved just quickly enough so it gradually raised her own heartrate and transferred her warmth over Seiya's lap evenly. She was doing something considered incredibly compassionate and selfless among healers, but it would be considered lewd and a little dirty by mostly everyone else. This form of spellcraft required her to know every inch of her patient's anatomy as well as her own. Carefully moderating the functions of the mortal body was where white mages excelled. On paper, Tiana knew what she was doing. She just never imagined herself doing it in practice. At least not this soon.

The left side of the healer's chest began to faintly glow pink through her long dress. The glow slowly traveled down her ribs, down her stomach, across the place where their two bodies physically joined, and finally transferred into Seiya. The left side of his chest began to resonate with the same magical glow as hers. She was helping him grow a new heart by sharing a small part of her own. It was a rare and special miracle said to only work if both participants truly cared for each other.

Suddenly, Seiya unconsciously thrust his waist upward and uttered a relaxed grunt. The healer felt something warm rushing through her lower self with so much quick, abrupt force that she was almost sure she heard a distinct _glop_ sound.

"_Euh…_ I was hoping you wouldn't do that, Seiya," the princess whispered under her tired breath, blushing slightly. It was an occasional—but not required—part of the Resurrection magic. When a female mage offered a part of herself to heal her partner, the male participant could potentially give a few drops of himself in return. She knew it wasn't really Seiya's fault that his natural biological instincts acted up, though. He wouldn't even know where he was until he woke up completely renewed. A simple Self-Protect spell would have saved her a small mess had she casted it in advance, but she'd been so worried about nursing him back to health that it never even dawned on her. It was the one time _**she **_forgot to apply any kind of caution.

But oh well. Seiya's condition had stabilized thanks to her help. That was the most important thing. The scary part was over and he'd make a full recovery by morning. The passive magic she emitted while she rested would keep him safe until then.

Succumbing to her own exhaustion, the princess slowly leaned down and curled next to the swordsman. She lied with one arm protectively stretched across his chest as she nestled her ear over his repairing heart.

Tiana cheerfully sighed and closed her eyes so she could fall asleep. Her restorative power would settle into him at the same time a small amount of his seed settled into her.

Somewhere in a dark place, an amphibious bug-eating Demon Lord flicked his tongue across his slimy lips.

* * *

_Author's note: And so Doom was set in motion._

_Author's note 2: I started thinking about that part in Fushigi Yuugi when Tomo creates a fake Taiitsukun to trick Miaka into thinking she can do ~~certain secret things~~ to manipulate people's chi levels, but I couldn't think of any decent quotes from that part of show that would work as an intro quote for this fic. I really like FY and it's one of my major formative anime from the late 90s that's always going to stick with me, but it's not the kind of thing where I have whole scenes of dialogue meticulously memorized._

_Author's note 3: Why is it the longer I look at Tiana's anime design, the more I start thinking she really does look like Miaka with the Chinese-style hairbuns swapped out for her rarer alternate ponytail haircut? Uhh… is it just me? Am I the only one seeing that? I don't like that. It makes me feel even worse about Tiana. I'm cool with Miaka. Sure, she gets a bad rap. Sure, she could devour an entire galaxy by herself. Sure, she can be kinda annoying at times, but her heart's in the right place. And Ishtar's even like a less cranky version of Taiitsukun the more I look at her character. And Tiana's personality traits carry over to Ristarte having a really rubbery animation style that reminds me SO much of FY's goofy chibi moments. Guuuhaarrgghya. Stop doing this to me, Cautious Hero. Make the pain stop._

_Author's third note: Why is Tiana still mostly dressed in this fic, you ask? You can read it two different ways. Either she's really shy and self-conscious about her body, or she's secretly really into gender-reversing that one sex scene from the beginning of Excalibur. The choice is yours._


End file.
